Case Categories: Fighting Words and Free Speech

• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)

  Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942) established that fighting words are not protected by the First Amendment. The Court has since narrowed the fighting words...

• City of Houston v. Hill (1987)

  City of Houston v. Hill (1987) found that a Houston ordinance prohibiting verbal abuse of police officers to a criminalization of First Amendment protected...

• Cohen v. California (1971)

  In Cohen v. California (1971) established that criminalizing the display of profane words in public places — in this case on a jacket —violates the First...

• Gooding v. Wilson (1972)

  Gooding v. Wilson (1972) limited the scope of the “fighting words” exception to the First Amendment and enhanced the development of the overbreadth doctrine...

• Karlan v. City of Cincinnati (1974)

  In Karlan v. City of Cincinnati (1974), the Court was asked to decide whether a city ordinance prohibiting words uttered in an "insulting" manner violated the...

• Lewis v. City of New Orleans (1974)

  Lewis v. City of New Orleans (1974) overturned a conviction for cursing at police, saying the state law was overly broad and thus violated the First Amendment...

• Lucas v. Arkansas (1974)

  Lucas v. Arkansas (1974) vacated convictions for making derogatory remarks against the police since an earlier case said that such ordinances violated the First...

• R.A.V. v. St. Paul (1992)

  In R.A.V. v. St. Paul (1992), the Court, citing violation of the First Amendment, overturned a rule that made it a crime to use a burning cross to intimidate...

• Rosenfeld v. New Jersey (1972)

  In Rosenfeld v. New Jersey (1972), which involved profanity and the First Amendment, the Court vacated the conviction of a man who used profane language at a...

• Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski (2021)

  The U.S. Supreme Court case, Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski, arose when a college prevented a student from distributing religious literature. The court said the case...